Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| navidades | /nabidades/ (from spelling rules) | feminine, plural |
| feriados | /feˈɾjados/ | masculine, plural |
| fiestas | /ˈfjestas/ | feminine, plural |
The term you choose depends on whether you are discussing the Christmas season, official days off or general celebrations. For example, Año Nuevo means New Year, La Nochevieja means New Year's Eve, La Pascua means Easter and El Carnaval means Carnival. Other specific holidays include El Día de la Independencia (Independence Day) and El Día de Acción de Gracias (Thanksgiving).
Which one should you use?
Use navidades specifically when referring to the Christmas holiday season. If you are referring to official, government-mandated public holidays, use feriados. For a general sense of festivities, festivals or a festive atmosphere, use fiestas.
Is it said differently in some regions?
The term feriados is common in many Latin American countries to denote public holidays, while festivos is more common in Spain. In Spain, Las Fallas refers to a specific regional festival and El Día de San Juan refers to a Midsummer celebration. In Mexico, El Día de la Constitución is a holiday.
How does it change in a sentence?
While las navidades refers to the Christmas season, the singular form la Navidad is used to refer specifically to the day of Christmas.
How do you pronounce it?
/nabidades/
Did you know?
- In Spain, the term puente meaning 'bridge' is used when a feriado falls on a Tuesday or Thursday to describe the act of taking the Monday or Friday off.
- The word festivo can describe both a public holiday and a person's cheerful personality.
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, the word fiesta describes not just a holiday or party but also a specific town's annual patron saint celebration.
Examples in context
- El próximo día lunes y martes son feriados.Next Monday and Tuesday are holidays.Tatoeba #6824323 by UsuarioX, translation #4483901 by JimBreen
- Las fiestas siempre acercan más a las personas.The holidays always bring everyone closer together.Tatoeba #3276696 by cueyayotl, translation #1270063 by CM
- En los feriados nacionales alzamos las banderas.We put up the flags on national holidays.Tatoeba #2297341 by marcelostockle, translation #248693 by CK
- Voy a tomar mis vacaciones en agosto.I'm going to take my vacation in August.
- Mañana es el feriado nacional.Tomorrow is the national holiday.
- ¡Por fin llegaron los días de descanso!Finally, the days off have arrived!
- 5 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Daniel and Elena are talking about their plans for December.
- Daniel¿Qué vas a hacer en las navidades?What are you going to do for the holidays?
- ElenaVoy a visitar a mi familia, Daniel.I am going to visit my family, Daniel.
- DanielYo también viajaré durante las navidades.I will also travel during the holidays.
- Elena¡Qué bien! Que tengas un buen viaje.That's great! Have a good trip.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “holidays” translations and entries navidades, feriados, fiestas, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
